Asher watched in scrutiny, seeing Nephis and Caster fight, then he blinked. "I don't get it."

Everyone in the novels always made it sound so profound—Nephis's footwork this, Caster's technique that. But to Asher, fighting was simple: dodge the hit, parry the hit, hit back harder.

All this talk of styles was too much for him. He couldn't tell the difference at all.

'So this is what normal people feel like, huh?'

Still…

He closed his eyes, [Nimble Intellect] taking over.

The world slowed, every movement drawing itself in meticulous detail. Asher studied their steps, their weight shifts, the way momentum flowed between strike and guard.

'I want to learn.'

Nephis' footwork was sharp, precise, efficient—like a blade carving the shortest path to victory. Caster's movements weren't any less refined, though. He flowed with a practiced grace, his balance impeccable.

And that was as far as Asher's understanding carried him. Beyond that, he was lost.

A voice pulled him back.

"Hey, Asher."

He blinked, time snapping back to normal. Kai was standing nearby, wearing his usual warm smile. Asher answered with a grin of his own.

"What's up?"

"Nothing important." Kai glanced at the spot beside him. "Mind if I sit?"

Asher patted the ground. "Stop being so formal! And call me Ash, alright?"

Kai chuckled softly and sat.

"..."

"..."

Asher broke a cold sweat, his lips shivering.

'So awkward!'

Thankfully, Kai broke first. "S-So, I wanted to ask you something."

"Finally." Asher let out a breath of relief, waving him on.

Kai scratched his cheek. "See… I thought I knew most of the popular songs in the waking world. But the ones I have heard from you as Saint Zerei… I've never heard them before. And they were good. Like, really good."

Asher sighed, summoning Boomlet. Instead of playing anything, he tossed it lightly into the air, watching it float.

"Of course you haven't heard them." He tapped his temple. "They're all from here."

Kai's eyes widened. "Wait. You're telling me… you wrote those songs?"

Asher shook his head. "Not exactly. My mom bought me a little music player when I was younger. Old thing, stuffed with songs from… well, a time you'd probably call ancient." His expression softened slightly, almost nostalgic. "I listened to it nonstop."

Kai leaned forward, incredulous. "You mean you found music lost to time… perfectly preserved? Just sitting in some player?"

Asher shrugged. "Well, officially, I am from the outskirts so who knows what you find there."

The archer's expression grew faintly somber. "Sorry… I didn't mean to bring up your past. I was just curious—"

"I don't really care about the outskirts," Asher cut him off gently, standing and stretching his arms. "So don't apologize."

He turned, already walking away. "I'll go loosen up a bit."

And just like that, Asher moved to the other side, leaving Kai staring after him.

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'It's the same.'

Everything seemed to pass Asher by in a blur. He rarely did much beyond reacting to things he had never seen back on Earth—like the colossal statue of the Builder—or stirring reactions out of his cohort whenever he did something unexpected.

Like the time the others fought desperately against the Flesh Reavers—or like Asher called them, "Bugs"—while he spent his time collecting as many soul shards as he could, grinning like an idiot, while Dahlia efficiently clipped the monsters' wings.

Then there was the time with the blood flowers. Sunny had stared in disbelief as Asher inhaled a lungful of crimson pollen, only to cough up blood, wipe his mouth, and walk it off like nothing happened.

That one was painful though...

Asher did, however, feel like an outcast. The cohort would keep moving forward just fine without him. The thought lingered like a splinter, especially now… as he watched the scene unfolding before him.

"KHAAAAAA—!"

A guttural howl pierced the air as Asher's ears began to ring. His face didn't show much reaction though as he looked around. The snowstorm did obscure a lot but, even the blizzard could not obscure the towering statue before them. Nor the monster bleeding crimson into the white.

Everyone got into positions and seamlessly covered each other's openings.

As Kai and Cassie flew in different directions, creating some distance between them and the ferocious abomination, Nephis and Caster attacked from the sides. One sword shined with brilliant white radiance, while the other gleamed with ghostly green light.

Effie held the Messenger down while Sunny was charging up in the air with the Dark Wing to launch himself at the Messenger.

Asher gritted his teeth, holding the hilt of [Cicada's Cry] harder. The Messenger wasn't the only one that could hurt one's ears. The abomination shrieked again—just as Sunny was launched forward, a living projectile streaking through the storm. The Midnight Shard carved into the monster's flesh with a flash of black steel.

At the same time, Asher's pupils constricted as he did the same thing he did all those months ago. Augmenting his hand with Gravity and pushing the blade as it tore through the air, the snow around it vaporizing in a brief shockwave.

Unlike last time however, this time... the blade was augmented with the Dawn Shard, as well as possessed by Dahlia, who aimed it accurately at the Messenger's abdomen.

The Dao slammed into the Messenger's abdomen with devastating force.

The monster staggered, blood spraying in thick sheets across the snow.

Nephis and Caster struck like twin predators. With the river of crimson spilling freely, the savage bloom of the Blood Blossom writhed with fresh power.

And Sunny—still clinging to the Midnight Shard—drove it deeper, twisting, carving, forcing the weapon along the abomination's spine.

This was the opening Asher had carved out.

So… he had to use it. Right?

The world slowed. The Dao buried itself deep in the Messenger's abdomen, grinding and twisting to spill more blood. The monster howled, the cohort shouted—but to Asher, it was all muffled. Nothing but static beneath the deafening ring in his ears.

'Can I alter the story?'

This thought gnawed at Asher's mind for a while.

He wanted the Moonlight Shard. Of course he did. But that was Sunny's prize. …Wasn't it? If Asher landed the final blow, it would be his. Fair and simple. But that sword… hadn't it saved Sunny's life countless times?

One choice spiraled into a dozen. One possibility bloomed into a hundred. [Nimble Intellect] ran through them all in the span of heartbeats.

And then—

Asher blinked.

The Messenger's corpse lay sprawled in the snow... Its huge figure, unmoving.

The fight was already over.

Only the whistling hail filled his ears now, louder than ever.

"Give it shorty. That huge shield bigger than you!"

"I told you the deal already! That bottomless bag of yours, and two other Awakened Memories!"

A small alteration going on in front of him, Effie asking Sunny to hand over an oversized shield, while Sunny seemed to be bargaining.

Asher exhaled, the whisper slipping past his lips."…I missed it."

The stench of blood finally hit him.

He finally felt his body. He looked at his hand, shaking...

There were definitely at least four fractures across his ulna to his humerus. Even with his Daemon physicality, trying to break the sound barrier as a sleeper was too much for a sleeper.

His hands shook violently. He raised them to his lips, holding them up into a smile. He took a deep breath and then he shouted:

"Guys! I feel left out! So, when are we leaving? I can't stand the blood here!"

He had made up his mind...

[End Of Volume 2, Part-1 : The Splinter.]

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[A/N: How did I perform the skip? Was it fine? Anyway, the next part will be crazy! 4 more reviews for an extra chapter!]